Lacrosse goalie stick head with forward offset

ABSTRACT

A head for a lacrosse stick includes a socket defining a female aperture for receiving a lacrosse shaft. The socket and the lacrosse stick being longitudinally aligned along a stick axis in a throat region. A head member is connected to the socket member and defines a number of holes therethrough for attachment of flexible pocket material thereto. The head includes a front open end with a front edge and a closed rear end with a rear edge and defining a head axis longitudinally through a center axis of the frame member. The head is configured with a reverse offset where the head axis is closer to the front open end than the stick axis. As result, saves are made sooner, increased stick face at throat area, improved balancing and increased head bending stiffness is achieved.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to a head for a lacrosse stick. More specifically, the present invention related to a specialized head for a goalie lacrosse stick.

The game of lacrosse and lacrosse sticks used to play lacrosse are very well known in the art. There are field sticks used by all players except the goalies and goalie sticks used by goalies. For field sticks, as governed by the rules of lacrosse, the heads used for field sticks are generally the same size but the length of the stick shafts themselves and pocket configuration vary greatly (in mens game, less so in the womens game) depending on the position and personal preferences of the player using the stick. The head frame carries a pocket, which is formed from laces, strings and webbing/netting, as is very well known in the art.

In addition, specialized goalie lacrosse sticks are well known in the art. Similar to a field lacrosse stick, a goalie stick includes a stick portion and a head frame portion attached thereto. The lacrosse goalie stick head is much larger than the head used for a field lacrosse stick. As with a field lacrosse stick, the head frame used for a lacrosse goalie stick carries a pocket, which is formed from laces, strings and webbing/netting, as is very well known in the art.

As seen in FIG. 1 a typical lacrosse goalie stick 10 known in the prior art includes a stick portion 12 and head portion 14 that includes a frame 16. The frame 16 includes a number of holes 18 therethrough for attachment of the pocket 20 via use of the usual known strings and laces. Known lacrosse goalie sticks commonly take the same approach as known in the art with the center of the frame (H) generally inline with the shaft (S) or slightly offset in a rearward direction. Modern field lacrosse stick provide a rearward offset whereby an axis H of the head frame is rearward to an axis S of the stick. While this helps create a deeper pocket 20 in the same way it does for field sticks, there are certain needs of a lacrosse goalie stick 10 that would not be met by this rearward offset that is employed by current lacrosse field sticks.

The use of a rearward offset in field lacrosse sticks help to effectively deepen the pocket 20 for improved ball handling while complying with the lacrosse equipment rules. However, there are no rules for depth of a pocket 20 of a lacrosse goalie head 14, so there is no need to offset the head 14 in a rearward direction. In the prior art, the center axis H of the head 14 is either aligned with the stick axis S or offset in the rearward direction for field sticks (as in FIG. 1) in similar fashion to field lacrosse stick heads purportedly to gain the same advantages that field lacrosse stick head enjoy from this rearwardly directed offset.

However, a rearward directed offset runs counter to the typical function and use of a lacrosse goalie stick 10. For example, trapping a ball face down with a large flexible head 14 is more difficult when the frame of the head is offset in a rearward direction. Also, offsetting a head 14 rearwardly is less conducive to making a save to prevent a goal. A rearwardly offset head 14 makes it rear-weighted resulting in an overall unbalanced piece of equipment. All of the attempts in the prior art have been insufficient to solve the aforementioned problems.

In view of the foregoing, there is a demand for an improved construction for a head for a goalie lacrosse stick to increase performance.

There is a demand for a head for a goalie lacrosse stick that has an improved offset configuration where the center axis of the head is forward of the axis of the stick.

There is a further demand for a head for a goalie lacrosse stick that provides an advantage on bounced shots by showing increased stick face at the throat area.

Yet another demand is for lacrosse goalie stick that has improved balance when cradling with the ball by balancing a large lever arm of the deeper goalie pocket to achieve better ball handling.

Still further, there is a demand for a head for lacrosse goalie stick that has increased head bending stiffness by providing larger front-to-back distance for supporting structures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention preserves the advantages of prior art heads for lacrosse goalie sticks. In addition, it provides new advantages not found in currently available heads for lacrosse goalie sticks and overcomes many disadvantages of such currently available heads for lacrosse goalie sticks.

The invention is generally directed to the novel and unique head for a lacrosse goalie stick. The head for a lacrosse stick includes a socket defining a female aperture for receiving a lacrosse shaft. The socket and the lacrosse shaft being longitudinally aligned along a stick axis in a throat region. A frame member is connected to the socket member and defines a number of holes therethrough for attachment of flexible pocket material thereto. The frame member includes a front open end with a front edge and a closed rear end with a rear edge and defining a frame axis longitudinally through a center axis of the frame member. The head is configured with a reverse offset where the frame axis is closer to the front open end than the stick axis. As result, saves are made sooner, increased stick face at throat area, improved balancing and increased head bending stiffness is achieved.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved construction for a head for a goalie lacrosse stick.

An object of the present invention is to provide a head for a goalie lacrosse stick that has a reverse offset configuration where the center axis of the head is forward of the axis of the stick.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a head for a goalie lacrosse stick that provides an advantage on bounced shots by showing increased stick face at the throat area.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a head for lacrosse goalie stick that has improved balance when cradling with the ball by balancing a large lever arm of the deeper goalie pocket to achieve better ball handling.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a head for lacrosse goalie stick that has increased head bending stiffness by providing larger front-to-back distance for supporting structures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features which are characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. However, the invention's preferred embodiments, together with further objects and attendant advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is side view of a prior art lacrosse goalie stick head with a rearwardly directed offset;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective of the lacrosse goalie stick head with a forwardly directed offset in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the inventive lacrosse goalie stick head of FIG. 2:

FIG. 4 is a close-up side elevational view of the inventive lacrosse goalie stick head of FIG. 2 with pocket installed and installed on a stick; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the lacrosse goalie stick head of FIG. 2 installed on a stick with pocket removed for illustration purposes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The lacrosse goalie stick configuration 100 employing the head 114 of the present invention is shown in detail in FIGS. 2-5. Turning first to FIG. 1, a front perspective view of the lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention is shown. The head 114 includes side walls 116 and a coupling throat portion 118 attached thereto. An inner portion 116 a of the side walls include an array of holes 122 to which the pocket 120 is attached using the usual strings, laces and netting material, as is known in the art. The attachment of a flexible pocket 120 to a lacrosse goalie stick head 114 is so well known in the art, it need not be discussed or shown in detail herein.

The head 114 is connected to a stick 112 via the throat coupling portion 118. The throat includes a female seat (not shown) for receiving the shaft in releasable fashion. As above, attachment of a shaft 112 to a lacrosse goalie stick head via a throat portion 118 is so well known in the art that it need not be discussed in detail herein.

FIG. 3 shows a front view of the lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention installed on stick 112 and ready for use.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, details of the unique configuration of the lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention can be seen in detail. FIG. 4 shows a side view of the head 114 of the present invention with a pocket 120 installed and ready for use, while FIG. 5 shows the same side view but the pocket 120 is removed for illustration purposes only to show the unique forward directed offset of the head 114 of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, the head 114 of the present invention is shown to include the side walls 116 and throat coupling 118, which is typically integrally formed with the remainder of the head 114. Holes 122 are provided through the side walls 116 in the usual fashion for attachment of the pocket 120 thereto. As can be seen, a ball 124 enters from the left to pass through the side walls 116, that makes up the construction of the head 114, into engagement with the pocket 120. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the head frame 116 is notably forwardly offset in contrast to known lacrosse stick heads, as will be discussed in detail below.

Turning now to FIG. 5, details of the unique forwardly directed offset of the lacrosse goalie stick head 114 can be seen. For illustration purposes, the pocket 120, as seen in FIG. 4, is not shown in FIG. 5. The shaft 112 of the stick has a stick axis S, running longitudinally through the center of the stick 112, which can be clearly seen in this side view. The head 114 has its own head axis H, which runs longitudinally through the center of the head 114. In contrast to the prior art lacrosse goal stick head 10 of FIG. 1, the central head axis H is located in forward of the axis S through the center axis of the stick shaft 112. Thus, the lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention has a forwardly directed offset compared to the rearwardly directed offset of the prior art lacrosse goalie stick head 14 of FIG. 1.

The unique forwardly directed offset positioning of the center axis H of the head 114 compared to the center axis S of the stick 112 has many advantages over prior art lacrosse goalie stick heads that have the head axis H behind the stick axis S. The head 114 of the present invention also has many advantages over prior art heads where the head axis H is aligned vertically with the stick axis S with no offset (not shown).

For example, the forwardly offset lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention can capture a ball 124 sooner than prior art lacrosse goalie stick heads 14 because it is configured with a leading edge 114 a of the head 114 physically positioned more forward and has increased stick face, particularly in the throat region 118. Also, the forwardly offset results in an increased forward-to-back dimension T in the region of the throat 118 thereby providing, due to the added thickness, increased bending stiffness of the head 114, as a whole. As can be understood, increased bending stiffness in the front-to-back direction is very advantageous for goalie play because it increases the likelihood of stopping a ball 124, which is a primary objective of a goalie. For example, catching a ball 124 in the air directly in the pocket 120 using the lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention enables the head 114 to extend more forward thereby facilitating catching the ball 124.

The lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention is also better suited to trap a rolling or bouncing ball 124 against the ground, which is a very common lacrosse goalie maneuver. When a ball 124 is rolling or bouncing and a trapping action against the ground is needed, the lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention is also advantageous over the prior art lacrosse goalie stick heads because the forward offset moves the front edge 114 a of the head forward, thereby closer to the ground during this process of facing the head down against the ground (not shown) with the open end of the head 114 facing the ground. Thus, less distance must be traveled to move the goalie stick head 114 into the trap position and less effort is needed to flex the head 114 and then retain the head 114 in that trap position. In general, the forward offset of the lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention moves the control edges 114 a of the head 114 forward thereby moving the protection and ball control desirably forward and, as a result, improving goalie game play and protection of the goal.

Since lacrosse goalie stick heads typically have very large pockets, they can be very rear heavy. The forward offset of the lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention assists in counterbalancing the rearwardly extending pocket 120, as can be seen in FIG. 4. As a result, the lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention achieves improved stick balance and ball handling over prior art lacrosse goalie stick heads, particularly when cradling with the ball 124 in the pocket 120, by balancing a large lever-like arm of the deeper goalie pocket 120.

The lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention can be made out any material that is suitable for lacrosse goalie stick heads. For example, the lacrosse goalie stick head 114 of the present invention can be molded of plastic in similar fashion to known lacrosse goalie stick heads. It can also be configured to retain known and common hole patterns for lacrosse goalie stick heads so users can string in pockets in a fashion that is familiar.

It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be covered by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A head for a lacrosse stick, comprising: a socket member defining a female aperture for receiving a lacrosse shaft; the socket member and the lacrosse shaft being longitudinally aligned along a stick axis in a throat region; a frame member connected to the socket member and defining a plurality of holes therethrough configured for attachment of flexible pocket material thereto; the frame member including a front open end with a front edge and a closed rear end with a rear edge and defining a frame axis longitudinally through a center axis of the frame member; and wherein the frame axis is closer to the front open end than the stick axis.
 2. The head of claim 1, wherein the head is made of molded plastic.
 3. The head of claim 1, wherein the front edge resides in a plane located in front of the stick axis.
 4. The head of claim 1, wherein a pocket is defined by the front edge of the frame member to a rear wall of the pocket material. 